North Pine Dam 10/1/06.

[stokesy_86]

Gday guys and girls,

After reading about the success fishos were having at north pine dam me and matt (B.F.A) decided to go have a crack. We got there about 5 in the arvo armed with jackalls and wanting to get a piece of the 50+ cm bass that are coming out of there, we also ventured to try a new spot and can happily say will be going back, we fished for about 2 hours, getting 7 fish in total, 6 bass and a silver perch. i smashed matthew 5 to 2 in the catching stakes, however he can claim biggest fish with a wooping 55cm beauty, my biggest was 41cm, and all others were relitevly small as the pics will show. Still good fun though and after the 41cm bass my pb, i cant wait to get out there again, it was an awesome fight and i can only imagine how hard a 50cm+ bass would go. Enjoy the few pics, and matt if u can, add the silver perch pic to the thread as u didnt email that one to me, or if your not having any luck just email it through.

Cheers,
Stokesy

[stokesy_86]

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[stokesy_86]

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[stokesy_86]

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[stokesy_86]

55cm

[stokesy_86]

all fish were nice and healthy and were released to fight another day

Cheers,
Stokesy

[nuggstar]

stop it your making me drooll all over myself ;D ;) nice bass dude can ya post a pic of that silver, i love em.
good stuff

[Tim_01]

great report stokesy and nice pics ;D , were all the fish caught on jackalls?

cheers,

Tim.

[stokesy_86]

Gday Tim,

Yep all fish were caught on jackalls, tn/60s.

Cheers,
Stokesy

[blue-mako]

They all seem to be around that size don't they? 51-51.5cm fork. 55-56cm full length. I've heard of, but yet to see a 52cm+ fork. Your trip sounds quite similar to the first time I went there. Everything from small to big except I got a Tandanus and you got a Silver Perch. You should be happy about that Silver mate. Did he go hard? How big was he? I have one in my fish tank I need to sell.

Troy

P.S. Gotta love those Jackalls!

[stokesy_86]

Gday MAte, silver was around 32cm. and i was happy with the fighting capabilities...whats the biggest silver anyone has caught out there?

Cheers,
Stokesy

[Nogster]

I was going to take my 5yo there on the weekend, are there any "legal" spots that might fire, apart from bullocky's rest.

[SWANY22]

stocky-86 thoes pictures of the dam look pretty much were i was talking about.a few people might dissgre on this but you will get more bigger bass on spinners than jackalls as i find a lot more smaller fish will hit thoes jackles and beat the bigger fellas to it .just in my experance ,what do you guys recond

[stokesy_86]

swanny me and matt were thinking along those lines when we were there, and matt change to a spinner and didnt get a touch while the smaller bass kept smashing the jackall, ive never really used spinner baits though so cant really comment. might give them a bit more of ago in the weks to come, and see if your theroy could be right.

Stokesy.

[black_sheep]

Good fish Stokesy,

Now that I know what you look like, will try and keep and eye out for ya.

Tight lines mate.

Blue-mako - I can't seem to post pics but if you have a personal email address, PM me with it and I'll forward you a few pics of Bass from NPD that are 55-58cms to the fork. Cheers, navi

[SWANY22]

thats true caught more bass on lipless crank baits but most of my big bass have been on spinners love thoes big bass

[hardb8]

Hi Stokesy,
# # # # # # # # Myself and a m8 were lurking yesterday,Looking for more new locations and came up with a cool spot we called :- The Turtle Grave Yard #8-) It had several dried out,Empty Turtle shells scattered along the bank.

Amongst the Bass caught were two Spangled Perch,A first time capture for either of us at this dam,They were of quite a good size for this species as well.

Also a Silver was landed which went 42 F.L.It went hard and was initialy called for a decent Bass.We have caught Silvers at the dam before,But they seem to be pretty rare.My best Silver from N.P. is 44 F.L.It went real hard and commanded respect.I think lots of these fish evade capture due to their small mouths avoiding the hooks on the strike.

We were also shocked by a Toga that was around 50cm.It was seen exiting a long shallow inlet at hi speed in only a foot of water.Wicked to see.

As for Bass,Jackalls and Spinnerbaits,We've found the following :-

The best searching lure when exploring new ground to be the TN/60.If a couple of fish are caught in one location.We then swap to either a Silent TN/60 or a Mask VIB 60 depending on their mood.

The silent 60's can be retrieved slower while retaining action,This keeps a moving lure in the strike zone longer,It also has a crisper action.

The Masks' can still be worked slowly by hopping/sweeping but need more speed to attain their true action when mobile.But we also acheive more distance on the cast as they weigh more,This intern covers more water relating to distance travled..Catch 22.

Spinners miss alot of smaller fish due to the size of their hook,And that of the stinger.If you down size,Ya can't get the required distance to decent water.Trebles on the other hand can be hard to avoid.

I also work on a theory that.....The smaller fish are more active.....Compare it to people.....Kids run around all day with endless amounts of energy,But adults,Only do what is neccassary to get by.I reckon the larger adult Bass are conserving their strenght for neccessary movement and easy meals.

Upon finding schooled fish usually we have to weed out smaller fish before the adults are caught.Not always,But it seems to be the case the majority of the time.Unless the lure gets right in their face,And is real easy prey they don't bother competing with the energy burning curious youngsters.

After the young blokes are caught,Released,And are off nursing their pride,The bigger models can casually find and feed on our offerings,With out the pacey juveniles darting around to interfear.

As with yesterday you may have to catch say 20 smaller fish before the better models make their pressence felt.But this type of situation has happened on too many times to be a rare,Or fluke scenario,Which has lead to our questioning of the underwater Bass world,And all our theroies.

They may not be true or correct,But as I'm not a Bass...I can only guess,And try to put the pieces together.


Just my thoughts.

[nuggstar]

nice one ric AGAIN >:( ;D ;) :'(

[blue-mako]

Mmmm Daiwa Pixy. Had a feel of one today with an Alphas. Might I say it feels nice in hand!

Troy

[stokesy_86]

bit late but here the pic of the silver from the other day

Stokesy

[blue-mako]

It's surprising how much of the lure wouldn't fit in their mouths and they still have a go at it at times.

Troy

[yellahunter]

how many lures do you guys lose there?
is it full of snags or is it just muddy bottom with a bit if weed which you pull through?

[SWANY22]

now its geting low a lot more snags are starting to appear was fostery once.lot of old fences through there i know as 1 has a lot of my lures on there.good pair of goggles and a mate got me self a few lures that way

[madkeen_fisherkid]

Good to See u R Gettin A Few bass ;)